[page 87]
Koreans in Transition: Americanizationat the University of Dubuque,1911-1935
DANIEL J. ADAMS
Introduction: An Untold Story
The history of Korean Americans is one that continues to unfold as memoirs and family histories are published, and materials hidden away for many years in widely scattered archives are brought to light. As one reads through this material, names of places and institutions begin to reappear with an unfailing regularity, and occasionally one comes upon a name that intersects with one’s own life and experience.
Such was the case with the University of Dubuque, located in the city of Dubuque on the banks of the Mississippi River in the central U.S. state of Iowa. While a graduate student there in the 1960s and early 1970s, the author came to know a number of Korean graduate students, many of whom returned to Korea to take up leadership positions in business and academia. It was obvious that this small church related university had a long historic relationship with Korea, but just how long and how significant remained somewhat of a mystery until the fall semester of 1991 when the author served as a visiting professor at the University of Dubuque. Research carried out in the university archives clearly showed that for a period of over two decades this school was at the very center of the Korean American student experience.1 This initial research was augmented by a reading of materials available in Korea and by interviews with missionaries and the sons and daughters of former missionaries. The result is a fascinating story of diplomatic intrigue, dogged determination, unfailing generosity, and a somewhat naive but well-intentioned belief in [page 88] the superiority of “the American way of life.” It is a story that has, up untilnow, remained untold.
How did a relatively small university in a largely rural state end up with more international students than any other university in the United States with the exception of Columbia University in New York City? And how did this university have more Korean students enrolled than any other college or university in the United States? What role did one of Korea’s first Protestant missionaries, Horace Allen, have to play in this story? How and why did this American university come to observe March 1st as Korean Independence Day? The answers to these and other questions form the subject of this essay. This story is one more chapter in the saga of the Korean American experience, a saga which is still very much in the process of being written.
The Historical Context: Early Korean Immigration to the U.S.
Historians have identified three periods of immigration of Koreans to the U.S. The first was from 1900 to 1944 and was largely associated with the need for Korean laborers in the sugarcane fields of Hawaii. The second was from 1945 to 1964 and resulted from the liberation of Korea from Japanese rule and from the devastation brought about by the Korean War. The third, which began in 1965 and is continuing until the present, came about due to the abolition of racial quotas which limited the number of Korean immigrants to the U.S. to a mere 100 per year. From 1965 onward Koreans were free to immigrate on an equal basis with other nationalities, and by 1974 there were approximately 25,000 Korean immigrants to the U.S. each year.2
From 1900 to 1944, during the period of the earliest Korean immigration to the U.S., there were three distinct groups who came. The first were laborers who were recruited to work in the sugarcane fields in Hawaii. Between 1903 and 1905, 7,226 persons arrived in Hawaii. Of these 6,048 were men, 637 were women, and 541 were children. Approximately 2,000 of these later moved to the U.S. mainland, mostly to work in railroad construction.3
A second group came between 1910 to 1924，the so-called “picture brides who were to marry the Korean men who were already here. Their photos were sent to the U.S. and men who wished to marry them sent[page 89] money to Korea for their passage. 1,066 women came, of whom 951 landed in Hawaii and 115 on the mainland, mostly in San Francisco.4
The third group which came in this earliest wave of immigration numbered approximately 900. These were students and intellectuals who left Korea following the Japanese annexation in 1910.5 Many of these traveled from China on passports issued by the Korean Provisional Government or on Chinese passports, since the Japanese officially prohibited immigration from Korea. Korean immigrants from China continued to arrive in the U.S. up through the end of the 1920s. From the mid-1930s until 1944 very few Koreans were able to immigrate to the U.S., although there were some who managed to come on Japanese passports prior to 1941.
This first period of Korean immigration to the U.S. involved 9,192 persons, most of whom came between 1903 and 1930. Many saw their time in Hawaii as temporary and they soon managed to move on to the mainland, usually to San Francisco, where wages were higher and better educational opportunities were available. There were some who immigrated to Hawaii, returned to Korea to work in the independence movement, then moved on to China and eventually returned to the U.S.6
The statistical aspects of this early period of Korean immigration are well known, but there is another aspect of this early period that is largely unknown—that of the role of some of the early missionaries to Korea. Several of these missionaries, such as the Presbyterian Horace N. Allen and the Methodist Homer B. Hulbert, were also diplomats, and they were not averse to using their diplomatic skills to enhance Korean American relations as they understood them. Both were personal friends of King Kojong, the last emperor of the Choson Dynasty, and both argued passionately in the halls of Western diplomacy and jurisprudence on behalf of the Korean cause. Both also played significant “benind the scenes” roles in the early immigration of Koreans to the U.S.
Horace Allen originally came to Korea as a medical doctor assigned to the diplomatic community since missionaries then were technically not allowed into the country. This enabled him to establish close ties with government officials, both Western and Korean. When he provided medical aid to Prince Min Yong-Ik, who was wounded in a coup attempt, he immediately curried favor with King Kojong and was allowed to open a clinic which in turn became associated with Protestant mission work.8[page 90]
Two characteristics of Allen’s personality immediately became evident. The first was the ability to work within the structures of the royal court. He asked the king to provide the name of his newly opened medical clinic and he offered to place it under royal administration. He showed proper deference to the king and was liberally rewarded with the royal title “Champan Mandarin” which in turn gave him free access to enter the royal palace without an official summons. Allen used every available opportunity to strengthen the relationships between the royal court and the Western community. In short, he showed that he was not only a medical doctor and a missionary, but also a man who exercised exceptional diplomatic skills.
The second characteristic would seem at least superficially to work against the first, for while Allen was most diplomatic with the royal court, he was anything but that with his missionary colleagues. In the words of one historian, “The ‘progress’ of the Presbyterian pioneers, however, was undermined early by difficult interpersonal relations. Most, if not all, of these difficulties centered around Horace Allen and his strange personality”9 Allen was a man of strong beliefs and commitments, and he had little tolerance with those who did not share them. He was convinced that Protestant mission work in Korea must proceed slowly and build upon already established foundations—the medical work, good relations with the royal court, and recognition that the Presbyterians were the senior missionaries on the scene (and of course, he was the senior missionary of the Presbyterians!). Allen had specific goals in mind for the medical work and he soon entered into conflict with his colleagues. He had little tolerance for those who wished to immediately begin evangelistic work, especially when those missionaries were Methodists. Intellectually he knew that the Presbyterians and the Methodists were committed to working together, but practically he had difficulty in putting this into effect. At one point the tensions became so great that Allen requested a transfer to Pusan. This request was denied, however, and Allen remained in Seoul until he resigned from the Presbyterian mission in September 1887 to accompany the first Korean legation to Washington, D.C. He returned to Korea in September 1889 under reappointment as a Presbyterian missionary, only to resign again in July 1890 when he became secretary of the U.S. legation in Seoul.10[page 91]
As a full-time diplomat these two characteristics of Allen’s personality served him well. His diplomatic skills enabled him to convince the royal court in Seoul and the U.S. government in Washington that anything that would enhance Korean-American relations was good and should therefore be carried out. His strong goal-oriented personality enabled him to carry out various projects to enhance Korean-American relations, even when dubious methods were employed or when critics raised their voices. Allen had a vast network of friends in high places upon whom he could call when in need, and he did not hesitate to do this when he believed it to be necessary.11
Perhaps the most significant of Allen’s diplomatic efforts was the opening up of immigration for Koreans to come to Hawaii to work on the sugarcane plantations.12 Allen, in cooperation with David Deshler, the stepson of the governor of Ohio, worked with the Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association to change the immigration laws. The annexation of Hawaii by the United States in 1898 meant that U.S. law now applied in Hawaii and the Japanese workers were free to move to the mainland where the wages were higher and the working conditions better. Because of the Chinese Exclusion Act passed in 1882, it was impossible for Chinese workers to come to work in Hawaii, especially since Hawaii was now a U.S. territory. This provided an opportunity for Koreans to fill the employment vacuum left by the departing Japanese. The problem was that U.S. law clearly prohibited contract labor. Allen put his diplomatic skills and his strong personality to work and convinced both Seoul and Washington that allowing the immigration of Korean workers into Hawaii would be good for Korean-American relations. He and Deshler also managed to provide a ruse that effectively covered up the fact that the Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association was engaging in contract labor when it hired Korean workers. When the ruse was discovered in 1903 and the entire project seemed to be in jeopardy, there was a flurry of diplomatic and legal activity that even involved the bribing of a federal judge.13 The flow of Korean immigrants was allowed to continue, however, and it did not end until November 1905 when Japan placed a protectorate over Korea and effectively stopped any further direct immigration of Koreans to the United States for the purposes of employment.
It has been noted that a majority of these early immigrants were either [page 92] converts to Christianity or had close ties with the missionaries in Korea. There were two reasons for this. First, many of these early immigrants were originally from rural areas where life was hard and crop failure common. They were people who lived on the margins of society and were thus attracted to the missionaries and their message. Second, the missionaries had a profound influence upon education in Korea. Homer B. Hulbert, who served in Korea from 1886 to 1905, was an educational advisor to the king. This not only gave him considerable influence in educational matters, but also placed him in a position to argue in favor of Korean immigration to Hawaii. In addition, Hulbert wrote a geography textbook that was widely used in the mission schools.14 This textbook had an influence upon at least one immigrant by providing him with his first knowledge of the world beyond Korea.15 Through close personal contact with the lives of ordinary Koreans and through mission schools, many Koreans came to be more open to Western ways and, indeed, some believed that the United States was “a land of milk and honey” or “the golden mountain” where one’s dreams for success could be realized. We should not be surprised, therefore, to find that the missionaries were among the prime recruiters of immigrant laborers to Hawaii.
One of these was the Rev. George Heber Jones, a Methodist missionary based in Seoul who was in charge of the West Korean District of the Methodist Church. Many of the earliest immigrants to Hawaii were sent under his guidance and he even arranged for a woman evangelist to accompany them. A significant number were from a single church in Chemulp’o (Inchon).16 Thus Jones wrote in his mission report for 1904 that “A large number have gone to Hawaii, and some of its [Chemulp’o Church] strongest members are engaged in the Hawaiian enterprise, giving their strength and time to it rather than to the interest of the Church.”17
Among the Presbyterian missionaries, Mrs. William A. [Sallie] Swallen wrote of the immigrants to Hawaii, “We can’t blame them for wanting to go to America.”18 Swallen was also instrumental in recruiting Korean students for the University of Dubuque, and made a number of special visits to the campus over the years. We find, therefore, that the immigration of Koreans to Hawaii and to the mainland of the United States formed a unique historical context which set the stage for the next chapter in this story—the university setting.[page 93]
The University Setting: Immigrants and the Founding of the University of Dubuque
The University of Dubuque is unique in that it was a school originally founded by immigrants for the education of immigrants. The mid-nineteenth century was a time of considerable turmoil in Europe brought on by the aftermath of the French Revolution, the Napoleonic wars, the Industrial Revolution, and overpopulation.19 Life was difficult, especially for many farmers and merchants who lived in largely rural areas. As a result many immigrated to the middle states of the U.S.: Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska, and North and South Dakota. Here land was cheap and opportunities to begin a new life seemed unlimited. As these immigrants settled in their newly adopted land, they brought their European customs and languages with them. A glance at a map of the states of Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin is revealing in the names given to many villages, towns, and cities. In Minnesota one finds Ostrander, Arendahl, Potsdam, Le Sueur, New Sweden, New Ulm, New Prague, and Warsaw. In Wisconsin there is Genoa, New Lisbon, New Glarus, La Crosse, Prairie du Chien, De Soto, and Cazenovia. In Iowa, where the University of Dubuque is located, there is Dorchester, New Hampton, Luxemburg, Guttenberg, and New Vienna, the latter three being in the immediate vicinity of Dubuque.
The antecedents to the University of Dubuque are to be found firstly, in a couple, both of whom were immigrants—the Rev. Peter Flury from Switzerland and his wife Sophie, a Briton whom Flury met while visiting his brother, a businessman in Rome. The Flurys arrived in Dubuque in 1846 and started an English school for Swiss immigrants. Rev. Flury visited a number of German settlements in the area and eventually started a German-speaking church. He also founded a German school for the children of immigrants. Following the death of his wife he returned to his native Switzerland.
He was followed by the Rev. Jean Baptiste Madouler, an immigrant from Germany. Madouler spoke four languages and took young men into his home where he taught them theology in preparation for ordination. One of these was a Swiss immigrant by the name of John Bantly who lived in nearby Galena, Illinois. He decided to enter the ministry after hearing a sermon by a Dutchman named Adrian Van Vliet, and it was Van Vliet [page 94] who is generally credited with founding in 1852 the institution that would eventually become the University of Dubuque.
It was in 1852 that the Rev. Adrian Van Vliet formally began theological instruction in his home for two students, both of whom were of German descent. The number of students grew, however all instruction was carried out in German until 1870 when courses in English, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, geography, and mathematics were added. At that time bilingual instruction became the norm.20 As the school continued to develop it was named the German Theological School of the Northwest.21 As the number of immigrants began to increase, the curriculum was broadened, and as so often happened in American higher education, a school founded for the education of the clergy soon became a college with a broad range of majors.
When it became apparent that many of the students who wished to enter the theological school were poorly prepared in linguistic skills and in a basic knowledge of the liberal arts, a two-year academy was opened which was roughly equivalent to the last year of high school and the first year of undergraduate college. The school printed its first catalog in 1873 but no copies are now in existence. By 1903-04 a second edition of the catalog was published. It was printed in German and showed that there were now three distinct departments—the two-year preparatory academy, a four-year college of liberal arts, and a three-year graduate school of theology. The first catalog printed in English appeared for the 1905-06 academic year. The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, which had direct oversight of the school, recommended that it “train ministers also for other minority groups” and the chief financial officer of the school, Dr. Cornelius M. Steffens who was to become president in 1907, “embarked on an ambitious program of Americanization of the various immigrant peoples in America through the education of young men of these peoples. In the course of time this led to the school becoming one of the most cosmopolitan educational institutions in America.”22